Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat his fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-5 6-3 in the final of the Qatar Open.
French pair have to endure 35-minute delay for fog
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat his fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-5 6-3 in the final of the Qatar Open.
The third seed shrugged off a 35-minute delay for fog in Doha before claiming his eighth career title and a third win in four meetings against world number 16 Monfils.
Monfils, who beat Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, had just broken the world number six in the first game when play was stopped because the fog made the courts slippery.
As fans waited in their seats, workers with brushes scrubbed the edges of the court and the fog drifted through the stadium. Play was resumed after a 35-minute delay.
When the final re-started, Monfils consolidated the break, and kept his advantage until 5-3, when Tsonga began to take control.
He won 16 of the next 19 points, racing through four straight games to clinch the set.
The second set went with serve until Monfils, trailing 2-3, handed Tsonga the only break of the set with a forehand unforced error. Tsonga went on to close out the match in an hour and 57 minutes.
"It was difficult. The surface was very slippery especially on the 'Qatar' sign painted on the court," said the 26-year-old Tsonga.
"It was dangerous but they did enough to make it OK. This is a good win for me going into the Australian Open, it's just amazing."
Tsonga is the third Frenchman to lift the Doha trophy, following Nicolas Escude in 2004 and Fabrice Santoro in 2000.
